Beyond athletics, 2015 was a big year for the Big Ten. On Monday, we looked back at several of the best stories from the previous year from universities in the East Division of the conference. Now, we turn our attention to the West Division. This roundup features Big Ten universities taking on issues that range from world hunger to apocalyptic asteroid strikes. Take a look below. ILLINOIS Illinois professor works to prevent asteroid armageddon Illinois’ Orange Krush drops dimes for team, local community IOWA Hawkeye homecoming queen takes on engineering, international aid and triathlons Hawkeyes get inspirational leadership from ‘Captains’

Conference action is gaining steam with one week in the books, as teams look to make early statements. No squad has spoken louder than Iowa, which has knocked off No. 1 Michigan State and No. 14 Purdue. Will any team make a move this week? [ MORE: Follow @BTNJonCrispin | Power Rankings | Player Rankings | Best of week that was | Win trip for two to the Big Ten tourney | Polls | Standings | Stats | Scores ] Here is a look at the week ahead. Game of the week: Maryland at Wisconsin, Saturday. These aren’t the Badgers

For the second consecutive week, Maryland sits atop my Big Ten Power Rankings, presented by ArcelorMittal. The Terrapins edged Penn State in their Big Ten opener and cruised to victory at Northwestern to improve to 13-1.

With the stat-stuffing games that dominate the nonconference season now history, it's a lot easier to assemble a weekly Big Ten Player Rankings. The first week of conference play featured no shortage of impressive individual performances.

The lid has been taken off Big Ten play, and five schools are off to 2-0 starts. Two of them aren’t a shock, as Maryland and Indiana are out of the gates quickly. But it’s a surprise to see Michigan, Ohio State and Iowa also 2-0 in Big Ten action.

Zak Showalter had the kind of day players dream about Saturday afternoon. [ MORE: AP: Showalter, Wisconsin down Rutgers, 79-57 ] The Wisconsin junior and former walk-on scored a career-high 21 points on a perfect 8-of-8 from the field, including 4-of-4 from downtown, in an easy win vs. Rutgers. That’s right, he didn’t miss a single shot en route to becoming the first Big Ten player since 2013 (Indiana’s Will Sheehey) to have a perfect day from the field with at least eight shot attempts. Showalter also played some defense, rising for another highlight-reel block. Watch every one of Showalter’s

There were six Big Ten men’s basketball games on Saturday, five of which were on BTN/BTN2Go. [ MORE: Catch up on all of today’s games on our Big Ten scoreboard ] Iowa highlighted the slate with an incredible 70-63 comeback win over Purdue. In other Big Ten action: Michigan rolled Penn State, 79-56, to move to 2-0 in Big Ten play, Wisconsin dropped Rutgers, 79-57, to hand Greg Gard his first Big Ten victory, No. 1 Michigan State picked up an impressive 69-61 win at Minnesota, Indiana topped Nebraska, 79-69, and Maryland cruised by Northwestern, 72-59. See the day’s full

Big Ten fans will get their football fix New Year’s Day, and they’ll get their basketball fix Saturday. BTN/BTN2Go will air five of the day’s six games, as part of a 10-hour marathon, starting with Penn State at Michigan (noon ET) and ending with Maryland at Northwestern (8 ET). View the full scoreboard. We asked BTN analyst Jon Crispin to tell us why each team in the five-game marathon can win, and you can read his thoughts below. PENN STATE at MICHIGAN (NOON ET) Penn State will win if … it can limit Michigan to 60 points or fewer by